Text 1: a six-step ladder for SME interviews

Read the article.Lis l'article.

Next: check your understanding →

Choose the right answer. Check: the explanation appears under each question.Choisis la bonne réponse. Vérifie : l'explication apparaît sous chaque question.

• What is the main idea of the article? Ask every question on your list, however long it takes.Have a relaxed conversation and collect as many stories as possible.Run six stages in a fixed order, and stop when you can write the document.Record the expert's screen instead of interviewing them.
• What mistake does the author admit making in the past? Booking interviews that were far too short.Writing the procedure before meeting the expert.Refusing to record the interviews.Treating the interview as a chat, and ending up with anecdotes instead of a procedure.
• What should you do before the interview? Send the expert your full list of questions, and book ninety minutes.Read what already exists, and book about thirty minutes.Record a video of the process yourself.Ask the expert to write the procedure first.
• Why shouldn't you book ninety minutes? Recording software stops after an hour.It costs the company too much.A long meeting looks like a project, and projects get postponed.Experts can't concentrate for more than half an hour.
• What should you promise the expert? A short presentation of the final course.A written version they can correct.A copy of the recording.A thank-you gift.
• What is the aim of the first stage, « Frame »? To check that the expert is qualified.To agree on how long the project will take.To get what starts the process, what « finished » looks like, and the main stages.To get every detail of the first stage.
• In the « Walk » stage, which part of the question is the most valuable? « What do you open? »« Who taught you this? »« How long does it take? »« What do you see when it worked? »
• The expert says « It depends. » What should you do? Come back to it at the very end.Ask « Depends on what? » until you get a rule a reader can check.Write « it depends » in the document.Move on to the next stage.
• Why is the read-back (« Verify ») worth the time? It makes the expert feel important.It replaces the recording.Correcting a mistake then takes seconds; later it means rewriting, or a useless document.It is required by the template.
• How should you use the document template in the « Cover » stage? Read the section titles aloud to the expert.Don't use a template at all.Send it to the expert before the interview.As a checklist in your head, never as the list of questions.
• Why should you write the procedure the same day? Your manager checks your work every evening.You will forget which parts you were unsure about.The expert expects it within an hour.The recording is deleted after a day.
• What does « Never invent » mean? Don't add screenshots.Don't use creative examples.Never change the expert's words.If the expert didn't say it, it doesn't go into the procedure: you mark the gap.
• How do you know the interview is finished? The expert starts repeating themselves.Thirty minutes are over.You can write every section without guessing, and the answers no longer surprise you.Your question list is empty.
• What is the difference between an SME interview and a user interview? They are the same thing.An SME interview is only used for software.An SME interview extracts an existing procedure; a user interview explores people's needs.A user interview is always shorter.

Next: key terms (1) →

Key terms: drag each definition next to the right term.Termes clés : fais glisser chaque définition en face du bon terme.

1. a decision point
2. a trigger
3. an end state
4. tacit knowledge
5. an SOP (standard operating procedure)
6. a precondition

Next: key terms (2) →

Key terms: drag each definition next to the right term.Termes clés : fais glisser chaque définition en face du bon terme.

1. a failure mode
2. a « done when » condition
3. escalation
4. a structured interview
5. stacked questions
6. a read-back